This is one of those weird artifacts of imaging that is still true on computers today. Applying some sorts of a blur to an image can make it actually appear sharper.

“Spot Wobble” Unlines TV Picture

Vast improvement in TV pictures is predicted by Westinghouse if the “spot wobble” method of horizontal line scanning is introduced. TV viewers are all familiar with the black and white lines that make up the picture. A viewer too close to the receiver can see the lines (ten feet is optimum for a 24″ screen). This can be remedied by slightly wobbling the scanning spot in the picture tube so that a broader line is rendered for better quality at a closer viewing distance.

KENNETH J. Carr of Brighton, England, is a sculptor with a technique which distinguishes him from all others of his breed; he works in paper.

For years Carr was employed as a commercial artist turning out posters, layouts and displays. One day his wife read to him of a new trend in paper sculpture. He decided to try it. He cut, twisted and pasted for a year and then his designs began to sell, so much so that he soon discontinued his other commercial work. His tools: scissors, razor blade, glue and Scotch tape, pencil, ruler and poster paint.

Oh, and Barnum didn’t say “There’s a sucker born every minute”. That was actually a quote from a competitor after Barnum created his own Cardiff Giant.

If you’ve never actually listened to the Mercury Theater broadcast of War of the Worlds you can stream it or download it at the Internet Archive

The saga of the bogus John Wilkes Booth mummy (actually a chap named David George) is told in a story of 7 parts here.

THESE HOAXES SHOCKED THE WORLD

By West Peterson

THE awful calamity of ferocious beasts hunting human prey in the streets of New York after breaking out of the Central Park Zoo panicked the entire city one gloomy Monday morning back in November, 1874. The highly esteemed New York Herald revealed the grim details of the “catastrophe” in the full-page story you see reproduced here.

“Another Sunday of horror has been added to those already memorable in our city annals,” the Herald announced in a dramatic report on the Zoo break. “. . . We have a list of forty-nine killed, of which only twenty- seven bodies have been identified, and it is much to be feared that this large total of fatalities will be much increased with the return of daylight. The list of multilated, trampled and injured in various ways must reach nearly 200 persons . . . Twelve of the large carnivorous beasts are still at large, their lurking places not being known. . . .”

Everybody has hit own pot idea of some gadget he would like to see in general use. What is YOURS? Popular Science Monthly will pay five dollars for every such suggestion that its editors decide to publish.

Cartoons by SYD LANDI

Dashboard That Tells All.
Gauges to show the motorist exactly how much air is in the tires, how much oil and water in the engine. Suggested by L. R. Ruegg, Lake Mills, Wis.

DEEP sea explorers are now enabled to fathom the ocean’s secrets to a depth of more than 815 feet, thanks to the invention of a (living suit which has been dubbed the “one-man sub.”

Until recently divers could only descend to a depth of about 200 feet, while submarines could only go a little deeper, about 300 ft. In submarines it was not possible to work around in wrecked ships or examine the ocean floor.

So tiny that it rests easily on a finger nail, an electric motor constructed by an Italian youth weighs less than an ounce. The Lilliputian power plant has forty-five Parts and develops about eight-one-thousandths of a horsepower.

“You need a hobby,” warned the doctor. So Dave Elman dug up more than 500,000 pastimes—for other people.

By Fred Horsley

“PICK any noun in the dictionary, and I’ll name you a hobby for that word,” Dave Elman, the originator of radio’s Hobby Lobby, boasted as he leaned back in his office chair in midtown Manhattan.

“All right,” I said and opened up a small dictionary on his desk. “Here’s one for you—auk.”

“That’s easy. I’ve got that hobby right here in the office. Ned Hand of the American Museum of Natural History collects the remains of auks as his hobby. See those bones over in the corner? That’s your auk hobby.”

MAMMOTH playing cards suitable for outdoor use have recently become the fad with society beauties on the California beaches. The photo shows a poker game in progress with paper plates used as chips. The cards are waterproof and very durable, and while a trifle too large for convenience have proved popular with those seeking something new in the way of amusements. A lapful is dealt to each player instead of a hand.